Nancy Drew®: Shadow at the Water's Edge

great atmosphere that offsets how much i don't LOVE some of the other aspects. a slim cast means a slim plot and that is definitely on display here, and unfortunately "Japan" seems to equate to "doing a ton of sudoku" in the world of puzzles - i really did not like how incredibly focused on basically Japanese newspaper puzzles this was. HOWEVER the setting is great and it does often take the crown for spookiest Drew for a reason - genuinely not afraid to try and be actually scary which is fun!

My absolute favorite ND game to date (tied with Alibi in Ashes probably) given its setting in Japan and its puzzle heavy content. I loved the spooks, and I am not a horror fan at all! It just suits the game so well and after having replayed this one often I know all the jumpscares by heart. Making bento boxes is still my absolute favorite mini-game, I can play that for hours and have a save file handy just to play some bento when I feel like it. The music and atmosphere definetly inspired me to visit Japan some day and in 2 weeks I finally will!

This game made this 32 yo fully grown adult cry. Not once, not even twice. But four times. ON JUNIOR MODE. How is this game meant for children?? HOW??? WHO MADE THIS GAME SO HARD? I STILL HAVE TEARS ROLLING DOWN MY FACE. TWELVE HOURS!!! TWELVE HOURS I WILL NEVER GET BACK!!!!!!!! The clicking...going to the wrong staircase EVERY TIME... I can't believe I had to look up TWO DIFFERENT GUIDES. And I still struggled to finish this game!!! I should have let Nancy die and stay dead tbh. The voice acting of Japanese characters being (primarily) white people was also CRAZY WORK. Who decided this?? I clocked that granny's voice IMMEDIATELY. Disgraceful. I'm so glad I was too scared of the Grudge when I was a kid in the 90s because I think I would have had a complete psychotic BREAKDOWN over trying to finish this godforsaken game. Nancy Drew is a stronger soldier than I ever could be.

my first ever nancy drew game. very enjoyable. my favorite part was when the phone glitched and we couldn't get the final text message to complete the game. I ate an entire block of mozzarella cheese that night and gave myself a stomach ache. 8/10

This is Nancy Drew at its best! Spooky vibes, compelling mystery, characters you actually get to know and care about, fantastic puzzles with a perfect balance of investigating and puzzles. Genuinely my favourite of the series, I play through it about once a year 10/10

Drowing in shrieks, sudoku, and tepid water. You'll gasp, you'll groan, you'll probably be forced to confront a walkthrough. Let it be known that Nancy Drew has no idea what the meaning of mirror image is. Friend to friend, you only need to do one of each type of puzzle in the puzzle book, the rest is optional for sick freaks that like to play sudoku with the worst interface known to mankind.